No Friday

Since my track record for posting timely, detailed, and pictorial blog posts on trips is at best 25% (I still have aspirations of blogging about our African honeymoon 2.5 years ago…), I figured it would be best to write a short and sweet update for the Alaska trip so far.

This trip originated last year when the Seattle Jibber crew started discussing our next ski adventure, and Alaska heliskiing was high on everyone’s list. The details got sorted out over a few beer sessions at Naked City Taphouse and via many long email threads. But, several months later, we got our shit together (and purchased many bonus pieces of riding/safety/photographic gear), and made it to AK and Points North Heli Adventures.

The only problem is there isn’t any new snow. It hasn’t snowed in over a month, and apparently it’s bluebird in the forecast for at least the next week. Given that we forked over a lot of coin for the dream of endless epic Chugach powder lines, the lack of snow was a potential problem.

“Was” being the operative word. As JJ put it, the powder heli-boarding trip has become “Winter Camp for Adults”. We’ve definitely done a lot of flying and riding, but the amazing scenery, great crew, awesome old and new friends, and the constant and creative search for interesting entertainment in the middle of nowhere has taken precedence over the Mars-like snow conditions.

As for the snow, there have been a few pockets of goodness, but generally those pockets are surrounded by extra-terrestial conditions that I would honestly describe as the roughest I’ve ridden (which is something to be said for a unique experience). On the first night, when chatting up the guides over a few beers, most of them euphemistically would describe it as:  “It’s a little ‘firm’ out there.” I was a little worried when one of our guides, who after a few beers might have been being a bit more transparent than he should, when asked how it would be on a snowboard, replied, with a worrying look on his face: “Oh, you’re fucked.”

Other favorite quotes about the conditions: “Falling really isn’t an option here.”, “It’s Blower Hardpack!”, and “Sastrugi“. As for falling, there have been definitely a few longer than expected slides on relatively mellow terrain because the snow was just so hard and icy, so we’re definitely riding with an extra level of caution (and a harness in case we wander off and fall in a crevasse). But so far, we’re keeping things in check.

But what is lacking in powder is more than made up for in unreal scenery. It’s such a treat to be surrounded by tons of jagged, steep, snow-capped mountains and glaciers while overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The sunsets have been particularly surreal. Living in Seattle, we’re blessed by some pretty stellar landscapes, but Alaska takes it to eleven.

On the down days, or the after-ski time, there’s been a ton to do, often contrived and invented. Activities have included:
* Jibber Pong – a  hybrid sport combining the best elements of ping pong and beer pong recently invented by our crew and about to take the world by storm via some new acquaintances who have quickly adopted it – expect this to be the national pastime of France in about three years
* Sumo Wrestling – the PNH crew has some overstuffed Sumo costumes and one of the guides (Jim) appears to be formally trained as a referee
* Northern Lights – the Aurora Borealis is quite visible here, and last night it went off big
* Cordova Pub Crawl – after an aborted day of flying, we hit up three of the local pubs
* Helibeaching – on a down day, we flew twenty minutes to a local beach for amazing scenery, a bonfire, grilling, and chucking the football on the beach
* Tripps – late one night, one of our guides and the chef stopped by asking if we were interested in playing a dice game. It was pretty enthralling.

Winter Camp is pretty fun indeed. Kudos to Kevin and Jessica and all the guides and staff (especially our fearless leaders Kip and Tom) and the Jibber crew for keeping the stoke up and turning what could be a disappointing trip into something epic nonetheless.

And we have three more days. Time to go shoot stuff. Or maybe a glacier hike. It will be fun.

A few weeks ago, some members of the Valerio clan (my mom’s side of the family) adventured out to the west coast for a family snowboarding trip. The weather and riding conditions were on the very damp side of the stereotypical Seattle mountain climate (i.e. it was raining a good bit of the time), but the crew helped prove that attitude is 99% of the equation in having a great time.

Whistler – The Journey!

The trip started off with a two-day trip up to Whistler Blackcomb, a four hour drive north of Seattle in British Columbia, Canada. There was some debate as to whether it would be better to leave late in the evening (“the west coast plan”) or to get up super-early in the morning (“the east coast plan”) following the 9:30pm Seattle airport arrival on Wednesday night. The west coast plan won out. I didn’t really understand the full impact of the “west coast plan” until everyone arrived at our house at around 11:15pm and Uncle Carmen immediately chugged a beer from the fridge, tossed me the keys, and said, “You’re driving!”.

Alright then!

It took a little getting used to the Ford Expedition they rented, and I think I made a comment about hoping my car insurance coverage was up-to-date (it was slightly harder to handle then the trusty Corolla), but after a few miles I got the swing of things. Apparently I was a little chatty, as my brother Brian commented that I was “channelling my inner Butch” (my dad, also known for talking).

The drive was largely uneventful – and fast – no traffic at that time of night. I thought the unusually confrontational Canadian border agent was going to make my sleeping uncle get out of the car, but after a minute of questioning (a minute is confrontational for the Canada crossing…), we crossed into Canada (with an obligatory 2-4 of beer picked up at duty free for the equally obligatory post-riding hot tub). It was also amusing a few hours later during the drive when Carmen started waking up somewhere past Squamish around 2am – which was when the alarm clock would go off at 5am east coast time…

We rolled into the village around 3am.  I hadn’t made this late of an arrival to Whistler since my infamous rain and snow-filled adventure five years ago when I was rushing to make it back for what turned out to be a legendary powder day.

I picked up our keys from reception. The village square was a sheet of ice from the freezing rain – I had never seen it covered like that – and walking around was treacherous. But, we managed to quickly get the gear into the condo and tuck into bed around 3:30am. Not bad, all things considered. At least we made it.

Blackcomb

Despite the late arrival, we were all up by around 8am, and once we had coffee and geared up, we headed towards the mountain. Given the lack of new snow and the clammy weather, we didn’t feel rushed so we stopped at Crepe Montagne for some grub. Afterwards, we headed to the gondolas, and met up with my friend Rob, who was in town with his family and joined us for the morning.

We headed up Blackcomb and had a pretty solid day. It was a little misty on the bottom and you needed to get to the very top to get completely above the freezing level, but on the glaciers and Seventh Heaven there was some pretty decent snow to be had. And below freezing level, the wet weather made for some nice spring-like conditions. As we joked, “the snow was well lubricated!” Or, “good day to test the Gore Tex!” The top of seventh heaven was stormy as hell, and it was as much art as science to overcome the winds and navigate the ski out off of the chair.

For lunch, we hit up the Crystal Hut, my favorite place to eat on the mountain but normally a zoo on the weekends because of its small size. It was tough passing up the Belgian waffles, but we were all pretty stoked with the chicken option, even if it did take a long-ass time to arrive. We were also entertained by the French couple behind us who were incessantly making out during lunch.

Post-lunch, we made a few more turns, and then Brian and I headed to Merlin’s for some apres while Colleen and Carmen hit up Excelerator for a few more laps before calling it quits for the day. My old Whistler housemate Louise joined us and helped us polish off some infamous Merlin’s Nachos.

We then headed home, did the hot tub routine, cleaned up, and headed into the village for more food. We settled on the Brewhouse. Brian and Carmen put on an impressive display with the ribs, and shortly thereafter, probably due to the food coma, beers, and lack of sleep the night before, all of us hit the wall. I was hoping to show the crew some Whistler nightlife, but that would have to wait for another trip.

Whistler

We woke up on Friday morning ,and, looking out the window from bed, the day was looking even wetter and greyer than Thursday. But there was no wussing out when you’re only in town for two days from the east coast, so we quickly geared up, packed up, checked out, and headed for the mountain.

The conditions were similar: wettish, with spring conditions down below and some soft snow up top. The upper alpine was on wind hold for a good part of the day, but when Harmony opened we headed over there for some of the best runs of the day. No Black Tusk up top. Sad.

After lunch at Rendezvous, we headed up to Peak Chair, which I thought would be a windy, blustery, terrifying alpine experience in the conditions, and I was correct. We headed down into Whistler Bowl, but after traversing towards the ridge above Grand Finale, I lost the crew. Apparently they weren’t willing to venture in the wind where I went while on boards (I was on skis that day). But we reunited relatively quickly down by Red Chair. They had a fun run, and I felt fortunate to survive some tree-lined chutes that I had really no business attempting on skis.

We finished with a few more laps on Green chair and took a ride on the legendary Peak to Peak gondola before calling it a day and heading for the car. We got back into street clothes, loaded up the Expedition, and turned south back to Seattle. Part one, the Whistler excursion, was a success, and though sad to leave, I was pretty sure the Valerios would eventually make it back (As Carmen noted when talking on the phone to my cousin Lauren, who was back home and couldn’t make it out due to school: “Now I have an excuse to come back – to take you here!”).

Friday Night

Our goal was to make it back to Seattle to join Meagan for dinner. Apparently it was a night out on the town for the fourth year UW med students, the family was curious to see what partying soon-to-be doctors looked like, and I was eager to see my wife. We made it back to Seattle around 7:45, a little bit after dinner started, but not too late to join in on the fun. We decided on “no showers” and quickly turned around and were headed out.

The word from the med crew was that Brouwer’s was pretty full, and not wanting to risk a delay in our eating, we decided to first fuel up at 74th St. Ale House. I’m always worried that the east coasters will find the west coast dining a little “weird”, but I figured 74th St. was safe (and fun), and Carmen was pretty impressed with the garlic ravioli sauce. Score. Colleen continued to sample as much west coast French Onion soup as possible.

After dinner, we headed down to Fremont to join the gang at Brouwer’s. We continued the celebration…some a bit too much…and wrapped up with some more late night grub at a new pie shop in Fremont (appropriately named “Pie“). It was a fitting end to the day since the now closed Four and Twenty pie shop in Whistler was my favorite hangout the winter I lived there, and savory pies were often my default breakfast, lunch, dinner, aprez, and late night snack of choice (it’s the perfect food to walk through the village with on the way to the lifts!). My culinary judgment might have been a bit biased after the session at Brouwer’s, but the steak pie that I downed was pretty stellar.

Saturday

Saturday was a rest day, and the Valerios had never been to Seattle before, so the plan was to go explore.

After sleeping off the previous evening, we headed to Portage Bay Cafe for breakfast, since it’s one of our favorite places and uniquely Northwest (at least compared to the Philly area…). In preparation for a subsequent viewing of Portlandia, we introduced them to hipster NW food terminology, like organic, free-range, and local. Regardless of its origin, they decidedly enjoyed the food.

Following the good eats and culinary education, Meagan hibernated to study for an upcoming exam, and the rest of us walked over to the Ballard Locks. Carmen is a civil engineer who likes boats, so I figured this was a must-see on the tourist circuit. The locks did not disappoint.

Afterwards, we continued to the Pike Place Market, another must-visit which is popular with locals and tourists alike for a reason. We wandered around and soaked in the sights (including the flyish fish, the gum wall, the original Starbucks, and the automatic doughnut maker) before stepping into Place Pigalle for a relaxing midafternoon snack. The mussels, cocktails, and other appetizers were nice, and Colleen had what looked to be the best French Onion soup of the trip so far!

We then headed home to chill for a bit before dinner. I had mentioned Portlandia a few times to them, discussing how it so comically captured much of the unique culture of the Pacific Northwest. I thought about whether to introduce them to the show upon their arrival (as a cultural primer to help brace them for their encounters) or a few days in (where they might appreciate the humor more). I chose the latter, and we settled in to watch three episodes on DVR. I think they left with a greater appreciation for the area, or at least that’s what I hoped.

After some naps, we headed back into the city for dinner. Brian was keen on sushi, but the others were a little hesitant, and after a little research, I decided to take them to one our favorites, Maneki in the ID. Since it was an old and unique Seattle institution, I figured it would be a good option, and they had enough non-sushi Japanese food to hopefully please the non-Sushi eaters. It was a hit, and I am pretty sure Carmen returned home asking my aunt “Are there any good Japanese places in Collegeville – we haven’t been to one in a while!”

Sunday

Sunday was the gloomiest day yet, with dark skies and steady rain. With the warm temperatures, the wet weather, and the upcoming Super Bowl, this would very easily have been a day that I would have skipped, but since the relatives only had a few days to enjoy the west coast riding, we had no choice but to brave the elements.

We headed to Crystal Mountain for the day. The drive was suspenseful as every one-degree lowering of the car thermometer inspired great excitement that we would dip below freezing by the time we arrived at the base. But despite urging things on, when we arrived it was a rainy 35F at Crystal.

Oh well – we were no stranger to these conditions by now, so we geared up, got lift tickets, and headed into the fog. Visibility was the biggest annoyance of the day, but again we had a great day enjoying the soft spring conditions and exploring the mountain. It’s easy to forget how priveleged we are to have such great mountains at our disposal, so I was grateful for the Valerios to remind me that, great weather or not, it’s still a ton of fun to go to snowboarding. And fortunately, the clouds parted for a bit which allowed the crew to see Mount Rainier from the top of the chaiflift. That has to be one of the best views from the top of any ski area.

Around 3:30pm or so we headed for the car and made our way back to Seattle, hoping to catch some of the Super Bowl (or at least I was). Listening in the car, it seemed like it was trending towards a blow-out, but when we got home near the start of the second half, the game was pretty tense, so we got to see the rest of what turned out to be a very entertaining game.

Meagan graciously picked up lots of food for us, so we munched on guacamole, pizza, and other snacks and mostly relaxed after the game. Three days on the hill mixed in with some sightseeing had rendered most of us pretty tired, and the Valerios still had one more day on the hill in store.

Monday

With lots of past and future snowboarding and other trips in the works, I decided I need to put in some time at work rather than join up for the last day’s riding adventure. Fortunately, they were treated to what sounded like stellar conditions at Stevens Pass for the last day of their trip.

The temperatures at the mountain finally dipped below freezing and a storm covered the mountain for most of the day, dropping a few inches of fresh over the course of the day and ensuring good riding conditions the whole time. I was getting a little worried since I hadn’t heard anything from them, until Brian texted me at 5:30pm that they were leaving. I was impressed – that was a pretty strong effort!

They returned to Seattle and joined me and some of my ski buddies for dinner and drinks at Naked City Taphouse. Brian was keen to see some he had met on past trips, and most of them seemed entertained reuniting with “Little Fitz” (or “Fitz 2.0″) and meeting the rest of the crew. After a few beers, we headed home and the Valerios started packing up for their early morning flight home.

Tuesday

The family got up well before I did to finishing packing and get ready to head to the airport. When I stumbled downstairs, they were on the verge of departure, so we said our goodbyes, and off they went.

I was content to return to “normal life” but sad to see them go. They certainly took advantage of their time here and their enthusiasm for riding despite the less-than-perfect conditions was infectious, and something I hope to carry long past their departure.

Thanks for a great trip and hope to see everyone again soon!

• Pictures on Smugmug

Today, I completed my Open Water Scuba Diving Certification!

This was something I had been meaning to cross off my todo list for a few years. I first got the idea during our honeymoon in Tanzania. Zanzibar (an island off the eastern coast of Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean) is reputed to be an awesome dive spot, and the hotel where we were staying (Matemwe Beach Village) had an on-sight dive center. But, despite watching lots of introductory sessions from our lounge chairs at the pool, we were too lazy to bother studying and training when we were firmly in a “chill by the pool” mode.

Since then, we have taken a few spring break trips to Hawaii, and each time, especially during our last venture to the Big Island, I wished I had my certification. After having an awesome time doing a night snorkel there with Manta Rays, I made a note to take a class when I returned to Seattle.

The last few weeks, Shannon at Silent World Diving Systems in Bellevue has been our underwater sherpa. We’ve spent a few classroom sessions learning about underwater air pressure, dive tables, and emergency procedures, and a few sessions in the pool to practice a whole slew of important things (mask clearing, regulator clearing, sharing air with a buddy, emergency ascents, etc). I also had a session to practice diving with a drysuit, which was logically strongly recommended by everyone I talked to due to the Puget Sound being in the 40′s F this time of year!

Our class was a little drawn out due to schedules and the holidays, but this weekend we finally hit the open water to put the knowledge and training to the test. Yesterday, we met up by Alki bright and early, but due to strong winds we relocated to Seacrest Cove, a popular dive spot near Salty’s in West Seattle with a fantastic morning sunrise view of the city.

We did one open water snorkel followed by two dives. The first dive was relatively contained to get us used to being in a non-pool setting, diving with a buddy, sharing air – basically most of the exercises we had practiced in the pool. The second dive was a little bit more of a tour around the area. Aside from some jellyfish and some smaller fish, I didn’t really see a ton, but partly that was because I was still focused on managing my buoyancy control and getting used to the marine surroundings.

Today was the money day though, with our third and fourth open water dives on a charter boat out of Tacoma. I hit the road around 7am, lugged my gear (tanks and weights are heavy!) to the boat, and we were off by around 8:30am. We were done with our practice exercises so our dives today were largely exploration and practicing navigation with a buddy.

I was paired with Michael, and we had a blast. The first dive was at the Barges off Maury Island. On this one, I was still fiddling a lot with the BC, but mostly it was fun to be 60 feet beneath the surface in freezing cold water and have a blast chasing fish. I wish I knew the names of species. Lots of starfish on the bottom. A few times it was a little overwhelming feeling the cold pressure on your face, getting tugged by a minor current swell, or looking up and not being able to recognize the surface, but for the most part, I was enjoying myself.

View Tacoma Dives in a larger map

We decompressed for a little over an hour while we navigated to the next site, Z’s Reef, which is near Fox Island. It was cool sailing under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on the way! The second dive was awesome. We maxed at around 60 feet. There were lots of fish tucked along the reef, but the highlight was getting buzzed a few times by a sea lion. Apparently you can dive many years in that area without seeing one, so we were lucky to experience it so early. Also, it was the first time I felt relatively relaxed in the water and was able to just float for extended periods of time without exerting as much effort. Several saw some octopus tucked into the coves, but Michael and I didn’t catch any. Next time!

Being newbie heavy breathers, we ran low on air well before our decompression limits came into play, so we made our way to the top, did our safety stop at fifteen feet, and then surfaced, smiles all around. It’s pretty surreal to be in freezing cold water, be totally dry, with the views of the Cascades and Olympics surrounding you.

We finished the boat trip with some champagne to toast our certifications (kudos to Shannon for thinking of that!) and completed our dive logs, but mostly we were entertained by the endless and hilarious banter between Michael and Shannon. (“I’m going to Facebook the shit out of that!”). After getting to shore, we unloaded the gear, and then headed to The Office Bar and Grill in Tacoma for some more post-dive fun. We continued the banter, noshed on some happy hour apps and beers, and watched the Seahawks actually win a game.

Finally, though, we called it a day, parted ways, and headed home. I have two more dives planned to get my drysuit specialty certification, which I’ll definitely plan to do on a boat trip, scheduled around ski conditions. (My biggest fear was that our Scuba days would be on epic powder days! Fortunately Shannon is a powder junkie too.)

Thanks to my dive mates, Michael and Shayna for being awesome dive buddies, Rick and Jackie from Bandito Charters, the crew at Silent World, and especially Shannon for being an awesome instructor and cruise director. What a great day.

View the rest of the pictures on Smugmug.

As the autumn weather turns a little cooler, the daylight draws a little shorter, and the roads are a little wetter, bike commuting gradually becomes more of a challenge. Wanting to stay in good shape through ski season, even if it was only biking to work once or twice a week, meant that I’d either have to beef up my primary road bike for winter riding, or buy a dedicated commuter bike.

I chose the latter.

But to make the garage a little less cluttered (barely!), I first had to get rid of two bikes that were gathering dust. One was my 1994 GT Corrado, my first “mountain” bike (no suspension!) and in more recent years a town bike, but which had been sitting idle when the move to Greenlake made it impractical for riding to work. The other was a Trek 8500, my previous hardtail mountain bike, which I hadn’t ridden for over a year when I finally converted to the wonders of dual suspension. I was happy to sell them on Craigslist for a few bucks, and more importantly, clear the conscience for getting a new toy.

After an afternoon roaming around a few Seattle bike shops about a month ago, I opted for a Gary Fisher Utopia, a hybrid urban commuter, from Montlake Bike Shop. The geometry is a little mellower than that of my road bike, and the matte black frame and trim look pretty sweet. But more importantly, I was able to deck it out for riding to work.

The additions include:

• Hydraulic disc brakes (Avid Juicy 3′s)
• Rear rack  (Topeak Explorer)
• Top-mounted rack bag (Topeak MTX Trunk Bag)
• Fenders (Planet Bike Cascadias)
• Slightly wider tires (Vittoria Randonneur 700x28c)
• Dual platform pedals (Shimano PD-A530)
• Shoes (Shimano SH-MT42NV)
• Headlight (Princeton Tec EOS-R)
• Taillight (Planet Bike Blinky Superflash)

So far, the bike’s been great. The disc brakes and fenders are fantastic for the wet roads, and it’s nice having the rack for lugging clothes and the laptop. I’m also pleasantly surprised with the front fork, which softens the rough roads without noticeably slowing down the ride.

This week, I finally installed the bike lights, which are hopefully the final additions. I wanted to reuse some of the many old lights that are floating around the garage, but I gave up trying to locate the mounts for them. The only other purchases I foresee are some warmer bike clothes, but I’ve managed to get by so far with my current bike attire.

So,  the Joe bike count is now at four:

• Dean Titanium Road Bike
• Trek Liquid All Mountain Full Suspension MTB
• Commençal DH Supreme Downhill MTB
• Gary Fisher Utopia Hybrid

That should do me good for a while!

I have a goal of catching up on my large backlog of photo processing this weekend, and adding 355 new ones isn’t the best way to achive it. But I’ll at least try to set a 2010 personal best and turn around this set in less than twenty-four hours.

It’s a little unusual to waltz into Pioneer Square on a rainy day in October and see a snowboarding event take place, but that’s what was going on yesterday at Occidental Park with the 5th annual Lib Tech Downtown Throwdown. The weather was miserable but spirits were high, with a DJ spinning tunes, vendors selling food, and industry types hawking stickers and other stuff. A decent number of people braved the steady rain (or the “really high humidity” as the MC dubbed it) to check out the action.

The rain (and my lack of protective gear) made shooting a bit of a challenge but I managed a couple ones I liked.

View the rest on Smugmug.

A few weeks ago, we made a hit and run trip to Vermont for our friends’ Lindsay and Matt’s wedding near Middlebury. As Meagan joked, we spent nearly as much time traveling as we did in Vermont, but it was a ton of fun catching up with Meagan’s Middlebury crew and soaking in a bit of fall Vermont culture. Getting the tickets with Frequent Flier miles didn’t hurt.

Friday night, we caught a redeye out of Seattle, connected in Philly (where incidentally they have some sweet couches to lounge on in between terminals – convenient for a redeye changeover), and then continued on to Burlington. After grabbing our bags, renting a car, and cleaning up a bit, we were off to town.

We had a few hours before the wedding, so we stopped off at Shelburne Farms for their annual Harvest Festival. It was quintessential Vermont, low-keyed good times – with lots of tasty food. Apple bobbing, roasted ears of corn, flatbread pizza, butternut squash soup, and crepes. We wandered around, ate a bunch, and snapped some photos. We had to cut the visit a bit short to make the wedding in time.

We continued south to Vergennes to the Basin Harbor Club, location of the reception and the place we were staying. We were a bit pressed for time, but managed to dump our bags, shower, iron our wedding attire, get dressed, have a beer and a red bull, drive to Middlebury, and make it to the church in time for the ceremony. Seeing the wedding limo a few blocks away gave us some confidence that we wouldn’t be late!

An advantage of our sluggish arrival was the minister suggesting we sit in the empty seats near the front, which resulted in having an arguably better vantage point than the wedding photographer.

After the ceremony, we gathered for some pre-reception beers at the Two Brothers Tavern, and then headed back to the Basin Harbor Club for the reception.

One of the highlights was the cocktails on the lawn before dinner. They had a platform set up for hitting golf balls into the harbor and attempting to land them on a small float. No one hit it exactly – I certainly didn’t come very close.

On Sunday, we struggled with our west coast jetlag to make it to the farewell brunch, but managed to get there before they cleared the food. We said our goodbyes, and then headed to the adjacent airfield where our friends Heather and Kevin had flown in their propeller plane from Hartford! We watched them load up and prep for a bit before we headed back to Burlington.

With some time to kill before our afternoon departure, we grabbed some coffee at a cool Burlington coffee shop before getting some pizza with Kathryn at American Flatbread. With a little time left, we stopped by the Burton Factory store. I’m debating on getting a new board for this season. It’s probably a good thing that we were really pressed for time before our flight and that I was a bit overwhelmed by the different board options. Otherwise it could have been financially devastating. I escaped with a t-shirt and a baseball cap.

I rarely cease to make Meagan nervous before a flight, and this one was no exception, but fortunately we were able to refuel the rental car, return it, and check in for the flight with a reasonable amount of time to spare.

In total, we spent about twenty hours on the plane for twenty-nine hours on the ground in Vermont, but it was definitely a fun adventure.

Congrats Lindsay and Matt!

Links:

• Wedding and Reception Pictures
• Vermont Pictures

Early this month, I rode about 75 miles, often uphill, from Vancouver to Whistler in the inaugural Gran Fondo Whistler ride. Matt and Rob already covered a lot about the ride in their blog posts (below), so I’ll keep this (relatively) short.

In sum: fun ride, very well-organized, challenging, but not as difficult as I was prepared for (I guess all the riding this season paid off).

We started with a 5am wakeup. Rob fetched coffee, we got ready, and met up in the lobby at 6am. We then assembled in the start line and waited what seemed like a long time to depart. Around 6:45, they sung the Canadian national anthem, and as a closeted Canadian who has known all the words to O Canada since he was about seven (mainly from being a Flyers fan and following the Philly/Edmonton rivalry in the 80′s), this made me happy. Shortly thereafter, the competitive riders started, and finally around 7am, we were off to Whistler.

The ride to Squamish was relatively flat. A bit of a climb out of Vancouver, followed by some rollers, and then a few hills before descending into Squamish. We rolled into the food stop around 9:20 am, just as speed daemon Rob, who had pedaled ahead of us, had finished his nine minute lunch break and was already rolling out.

We knew the toughest part from the elevation profile would be the climb out of Squamish, and that proved to be the case. But, despite some long hills and my legs feeling like they were on the verge of cramping, it wasn’t all that bad. I knew the end was in sight when we saw the first “Welcome to Whistler” sign down near Function, and when we rolled into the Village itself, I was stoked. We finished strong and then made our way to the beer garden to chill out. Arrival time: 12:32 pm. Elapsed Time: 5h 27mins. Riding Time: 4h 37 mins.

Eventually, we headed to the Pan Pacific, munched on some apres-bike nachos and poutine at the Dublinh Gate, hit up the hot tub and famous (infamous?) eucalyptus steam room, drank some pre-dinner Jaegerbombs at Citta (it is Whistler after all), and then had a nice dinner at 21 Steps. We were all pretty tired after the early start and long ride, but finished off with a round at Dublinh Gate before turning in.

Sunday morning, a few of us headed to Crepe Montagne for breakfast (Lemon Curd Crepe FTW!), and then began the journey back to Seattle. It was pouring rain for most of the ride through Vancouver and a few hardy riders were braving the journey back to Vancouver on the bikes. Fortunately the rain held out for our ride! But by the time we made it to Seattle, it was actually kind of sunny.

I’d love to do the ride again, but given that they raised the entry fee to $225 (which doesn’t include the additional travel costs to Vancouver and Whistler), I think next year’s ride is likely out.

Many thanks to Chelsea and Rob for driving and to the crew for another fun ride on the bikes!

Oh. I was hoping to put together a time-lapse series of photos from my handlebar-mounted Go Pro camera, but due to some “battery issues”, the thing crapped out 45 minutes after I started, which basically meant I got some sweet starting line shots. Well, some of them turned out pretty cool actually.

Links:

• My photos
• Rob: Whistler Gran Fondo Epilogue
• Rob: Whistler Gran Fondo Day
• Rob: Getting to the Whistler Gran Fondo
• Rob: Preparing for the Whistler Gran Fondo
• Matt’s Blog Post
• Matt’s photos
• The results
• Official Photos

This summer, I had one of my more memorable dining experiences.

Accidentally.

The evening started with me ditching work early to head to yoga. After getting my Namaste on and sweating up a storm, I left Shakti and commenced my hunt for dinner. Meagan originally had plans to meet up with some folks from school, so I was on my own. I remembered that I had half a leftover Salumi porchetta sandwich that I left in the fridge at work. I didn’t want to see it go to waste, so I headed on my way back to work towards I-5 in Wallingford to get it.

(Incidentally, I ran into Tony Bourdain at Salumi, another one of my favorite restaurants. He was in Seattle performing the night before, rightly considers Salumi one of the thirteen places in the world to eat before you die, and wishes he could be adopted by Armandino, the proprietor. Unfortunately, I didn’t get close enough to get a good picture, but you can count this as the first of two interesting food experiences that day.)

While waiting at the intersection of 45th and Wallingford, I got a call from Meagan. Her plans were delayed a bit, but she had found “a cute little wine bar” where she thought we could grab a drink and a bite before her postponed meeting. Cute wine bar with Meagan sounded better than a leftover sandwich (even if it was a Salumi porchetta sandwich). Conveniently, the wine bar was at 38th and Wallingford, so I was practically there. I banged a right and pulled up next to the place in a few minutes. I parked in the thirty minute loading zone, figuring it wouldn’t be a problem after 6pm.

Upon seeing me get out of the car, drenched in my sweat soaked surf trunks and workout shirt, Meagan remembered that I had just finished yoga. She mentioned the place looked “a little nice”, and I debatably made myself passable by tucking in my shirt and tossing on a hoodie. We saw the sign for “E.N.D. Wine Bar” – there were two doors, and we chose the one on the left. We walked in, and the friendly host offered us seats at the “chef’s bar”.

We guessed something might be up when we were offered two apertifs as we sat down. When I asked what they were, the host simply said “something to get things started.” Cool? After enjoying the drink but waiting about fifteen minutes without menus, Meagan was getting a little worried about making her meeting, which had only been delayed, not canceled.

A few minutes later, the host dropped by and asked “are there any foods that you don’t like?” Interesting. We politely said no, now suspicious that we were in for something more than a simple bite at a wine bar. A little while later, two glasses of wine showed up and we were served a delicious soup – lentil, I think, but the evening became a bit hazy going forward.

We weren’t quite sure how to handle the situation at this point. I was very much enjoying the experience but it was clear that there was no chance we were going to finish the meal with time for Meagan to leave. After mulling over our options, we decided that I would stay and I’d politely explain our predicament to our host.

I got up from my bar seat, still a bit sweaty from yoga, and went over to chat with the host. I simply said that we were having a great time, but didn’t realize that this meal was going to be more than we had anticipated, that Meagan had to leave in a bit, and that we didn’t want any of the good food to go to waste. He couldn’t have been more gracious, asked when Meagan needed to leave, and wondered if she’d have time for two more courses.

Phew. We relaxed a bit. While we were waiting for the next courses, I recalled that there were two doors to the place, and we started considering the possibility that the wine bar we had selected was actually next door, and the second door that we chose was another place altogether. I whipped out the iPhone, trying to see where we were at, but reception was a bit spotty inside, and my attempting at Googling and Yelping “End wine bar” weren’t coming up with much. I tried hitting Google maps, and the closest place it had near us was “Elemental”.

Interesting, I thought. Elemental has been on my short list of restaurants I wanted to try, but I didn’t really know much about it. I only knew it by reputation as one of Seattle’s best restaurants. I knew it was in Wallingford, knew that it was a chef’s menu with wine pairing type of place, I knew it was small, and I knew the food was meant to be good. So far, it matched my mental conception.

But I also heard it’s really hard to get into since it’s small and they don’t take reservations, so it’s not uncommon to have to queue up early to get in. It didn’t seem like the type of place that two semi-clueless people, one of them looking like he was on the way to or from the beach, could just waltz into at 7:45pm on a Wednesday night. Plus, I was trying to reconcile where this “End Wine Bar” was and why it wasn’t on the map. But I turned to Meagan and said, “I think we might be at Elemental.”

We didn’t quite want to reveal our cluelessness. “Hey, where are we by the way?”, or “Is this Elemental?” didn’t seem like ways of making friends with the staff. So, we mused to ourselves. The next rounds came. I think the next two courses were a mixed green salad and a pan-fried halibut, but mostly I remember that both were awesome and each came with another wine pairing. After finishing the second, Meagan sadly departed, and I settled in for the upcoming culinary adventure. I asked her to text me if she figured out any revealing clues on the way out, but I didn’t receive any, likely since she was in a hurry to get to the appointment. Worried about the past and forthcoming wine accompaniments, she made sure I was planning on taking the bus home.

Meagan gone, I started chatting more with the two chefs working the kitchen. They were both friendly. It was a fairly small and unassuming kitchen, which made me suspect maybe we were at a wine bar after all. Or not. I didn’t know. Occasionally I’d hit up the phone to see if I could decipher it, with most clues pointing towards Elemental, but I didn’t know for sure. The suspense was both killing me and making me enjoy the meal all the more.

More food and wine kept arriving. I remember a cheese course, a tomato tart, a clam and potato ravioli with a saffron sauce, and a hanger steak. As the wine kept pouring, and my rapport with the staff increased, and I figured at some point I’d have to admit my ignorance.

Sensing a good moment during the ravioli course, I asked, “What is the name of the place next door?” One of the chefs said that it’s “Elemental Next Door” – the same as here, but priced a la carte. I still didn’t make the connection between “E.N.D. Wine Bar” and “Elemental Next Door”. Finally, I broke down. “So, I’m at Elemental then, right?”

They had a laugh. They nodded and said that we didn’t look like we knew where we were when we walked in. Go figure. I explained, despite my cluelessness, that I had been wanting to come here for a while, and the whole situation made the experience all the better, albeit sans Meagan. All the more reason to come back again, intentionally next time.

The meal wrapped up with a trio of desserts, all delicious, none of which I remember, and a digestif. As I was making my way out, Meagan called to let me know she was finished her meeting and was nearby, so I met her outside with some friends. Fairly toasted, I retrieved a few things from my car and headed back home in her car.

The next day, I woke up, a little groggy, took the bus back to the restaurant, was greeted with a $45 ticket for parking in the temporary loading zone (I didn’t anticipate parking there overnight at the time!), and proceeded to inspect the place in the light of day. I snapped a few pictures.

Yes, it was indeed Elemental, although given the subtle white on glass writing, I think I could be forgiven for not noticing it on the way in!

I am definitely looking forward to a return visit, knowing what I am getting into, and with Meagan able to enjoy the entire experience.

Ten years ago today, I moved to Seattle. I guess I can officially call myself a local now.

I never really expected to be out here this long. Before coming here, I was two years out of school and working in my first “real” job since graduating as a software engineer at a hardware company outside of Boston. I loved living in Boston – a young, fun, lively city with “east coast grit” – but despite having great co-workers, I didn’t really like my job.

A good friend of mine from college called me up, letting me know, among other things, that Amazon was hiring. It took a bit of a sell to get me to move to Seattle, since I preferred to stay in Boston and my family was on the east coast. But the temptation to do something different, and the persistence of my friend, were both too strong.

I remember thinking – “I’m 24. I’ll just move out for a couple years and then eventually move back east.”

Well, a couple years is now ten, and counting. The mountains, the weather, my friends, Meagan, the hipster-intellectual vibe, the active culture, and the tech environment are among the many reasons that I love living here.

It’s still difficult for me that my parents and most of our families are on the east coast, but I am pretty happy with the life I’ve built here.

I’ve been a huge slacker in processing my photo backlog. I still have a bunch from Seafair 2009 to go through! I built a new computer a few months ago in order to have a faster photo “editing” computer (really, “editing” == “filtering with Lightroom”), but that hasn’t really motivated me. Too many weekends travelling, biking, or skiing, I guess.

Better late than never.

These pictures are from our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii for Spring Break this past march (at least it’s still 2010).

We had a great trip, most of the details of which I no longer remember. We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid on the Kona side of the island. It was a fantastic place, and my only regret was not spending a night or two closer to the volcano. We made a day trip there early in the week, and let’s just say, it’s a big island.

The trip included a few adventures: snorkeling, trekking around the volcano (sadly the lava wasn’t really flowing), and a super-cool night time snorkel with the manta rays – highly recommended. It also included a lot of lounging by the pool, reading, drinking, and eating.

We also hung out a bit with our friends Cole and Nancy, whose Big Island vacation overlapped a few days with ours. A definite highlight of the trip was a chill dinner with them on our last night at the Manta Pavilion & Wine Bar at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Awesome view, unique menu, and a card-operated, pay-by-the-ounce, wine dispensing system – you have to see this thing to believe it.

We’ve now crossed three islands of our list: Kauai (my favorite), Maui, and the Big Island.

A few photo highlights:

And you can view the rest on Smugmug.